Hemp BC and Cannabis Cafe Closed

On June 9, BC Supreme Court Justice Thomas Melnick upheld a city councildecision to deny Hemp BC and the Cannabis Cafe their business licence. Atthe same time, Melnick granted an injunction to Vancouver city councillawyers to close the two proprietorships.

Hemp BC and the Cannabis Cafe were founded by marijuana activist MarcEmery, who stirred up local, national and even international politics bythrusting reefers into the lenses of cameras from his throne at Hemp BCsince 1994. When Emery’s message received major media coverage, his storeswere raided by Vancouver Police. Behind the scenes on attempts to close thestores was Philip Owen, the city’s mayor. Now the two locations are closed,and their phones disconnected.

The closure of the cafe represents a victory for Owen, who has waged apersonal battle against Hemp BC since he took office in an election raceagainst Marc Emery, who ran on a platform of city-wide tolerance formarijuana users, growers and distributors. Since his inauguration, Owen hasrepeatedly urged Vancouver Police to raid the store, publicly vowed thatthe store would be “toast”, and organized city conferences featuringwell-known prohibitionists from the US. At times, Vancouver police havecooperated with US Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) agents incollecting evidence against Hemp BC and the Cannabis Cafe. Mayor Owen’sconnections with US prohibitionist bigwigs leads to the conclusion that themayor has made himself the representative and pawn of US interests inVancouver, and that the NCIS investigation was a reflection of that reality.

Mayor Owen’s final attempt to close Hemp BC and the Cannabis Cafe involveddenying the stores their business licence, on the basis that first Emery,and then Icee, had criminal records – charges of selling paraphernaliastemming from raids on the stores. The city hearings into the matter werecharacterized by shows of bad faith and slander against Icee. The citypresented reams of tabloid fodder concerning Marc Emery’s previousownership of the store, Sister Icee’s personal life and beliefs, andproblems stemming from the red-light district several blocks away (with thesuggestion that they were caused by Hemp BC). Previously the city hadpromised, in Supreme Court, to focus only on issues directly related to thegranting of a business licence.

By upholding the city’s injunction to close Hemp BC, the Supreme Court ofBritish Columbia has given a big thumbs up to the untold abuse of fairnessand decency in the province. The Supreme Court has effectively told localpolice that it is okay to represent US interests on Canadian soil. Okay tohold biased and unfair hearings, and to break promises made under oath.Okay to use government offices as a weapon against political rivals. Ineffect, the Supreme Court decision has not only thrown the administrationof justice into disrepute, it has also made a mockery of government.

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